Machine for forming shoe soles



May 13, 1941. EPPLER, JR. 2,241,507

MACHINE FOR FORMING SHOE SQLES Filed Feb. 21, 1940 JWEA/ 70F.

Patented May 13, 1941 MACHINE FOR FORMING SHOE SOLES Andrew Eppler, Jr., Lynn, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 21, 1940, Serial No. 320,150

8 Claims.

This invention relates to machines by which the soles of shoes may be formed from blanks, as by cutting a blank to the desired peripheral contour and producing upon the edge thus formed a transverse contour other than rectilinear, as an edge having a projection or head extending about it.

An object of the invention is to effect the two forming actions simultaneously by efficient means, which will give a smoothly finished edge. To attain this result, there co-operates with a pattern, to which work may be clamped, a dragknife carried by a holder in which it is fixed, it being provided with a cutting edge having a generally vertical portion between the upper and lower extremities of which is a depression, said knife being formed to sever a sole from a clamped blank as the pattern and knife are moved relatively and to produce a bead projecting from the generally vertical periphery of the sole-edge. Such an organization forms the bead progressively as the sole is cut, and the action of the drag-knife tends to finish or burnish the edge. To ensure the maintenance of the correct relation of the bead transversely of the sole-edge, I associate with the knife means engaging the pattern for positioning its cutting edge with the bead producing portion in a predetermined relation transversely of the sole-edge, as by a gage carried by a holder for the knife and. urged against a face of the pattern. More specifically, a gagedisk is rotatable upon the holder and. has a surface arranged for engagement with the patternface, this surface being curved outwardly toward its periphery from said pattern-face. This curvature allows for the gage a certain range, through which it may contact with the pattern and locate the knife in the chosen relation across the sole-edge. There is preferably a beadproducing depression or depressions, extending from the cutting edge longitudinally of the knife, so as said edge is sharpened by grinding its beveled extremity the bead-forming contour will be preserved unchanged.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the portions of a sole-rounding machine more closely associated with the work;

Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3, a broken detail in elevation viewing the knife and gage means at another angle than that of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4, a perspective view of the knife. At It) appears the rotatable support of the well-known Planet sole rounding machine, upon which is pivoted the usual carrier-arm [2 springurged toward the periphery of a pattern I4. This pattern is mounted upon posts 16, rising from a stationary portion [8 of the machine-frame. Only one of these posts appears in the drawing. To clamp upon the pattern the work-piece to be operated upon, such as a sole-blank B, a plate 20 is movable toward and from said pattern. As the carrier-arm I2 is revolved by the rotation of the support "I, it causes the travel about the pattern of a block or holder 22 in which is fixed a knife K. A horizontally curved face 24 of the knife-block is urged by the arm l2 against the periphery of the pattern. The holder is pivoted to swing horizontally about a pivot-pin 26, secured in the forward extremity of a carrier-lever 28 fulcrumed at 29 upon a mounting plate 30 variable in position upon the carrier-arm l2 by slot-and-screw connections 3|. Such a mount ing permits adjustment of the lever for patterns of different sizes. A spring 21 joining the holder to the lever maintains the edge of the knife in the proper cutting relation to the pattern and clamped blank. By this arrangement, the knife is so held with respect to the pattern and to the work, that in its travel it will sever the blank along a line corresponding to the contour of the pattern. The knife may generally resemble that customarily used in this type of machine, except that, instead of having a straight cutting edge, said edge It is so formed that transversely the sole-edge will not be rectilinear, but, instead, projections or depressions, or both, will be produced, these extending about the peripheral edge of the sole. As illustrated, the knifeedge has at its upper extremity an inclined portion a: and below this there are two depressions y, y. This form is created by surfaces and grooves extending from the cutting edge along the inner side of the knife, so, as the edge is sharpened, its transverse contour remains undisturbed. The knife will thus produce a beveled edge-portion a adjacent to what is normally the upper face of the sole, and below this two spaced beads 17, b. The effect of these beads is ornamental, while the beveled portion makes the sole appear thinner.

Because of the peculiar contour imparted to the sole-edge, the knife-edge It must be kept in a substantially unvarying vertical relation to a sole during the operation upon its edge, and this is effected by control of the position of the holder-block 22, as permitted by movement of the carrier-lever 28 about its fulcrum. Surrounding the pivot-pin 28 for the block, being preferably integral with it, is a raceway-ring 32, supporting the balls 34 of an antifriction-bearing. Upon the balls rests a gage-ring 36, the upper surface of which is curved downwardly and outwardly from the axis. The gage-ring extends under the edge of the pattern and is held up into engagement with the lower, outer face by an expansion-spring 38, surrounding a post 40 rising from the plate 33 through an opening near the outer end of the lever 28. A nut 42 threaded upon the post permits the force of the spring to be varied, and a screw 44, threaded through the lever in proximity to the post, by its contact with the plate limits the upward movement of the gage-ring 38 under the influence of the spring when the ring is separated from. the pattern. The lever 28 may be so adjusted by alteration in the position of the screw 44, that, as the knife-block 22 is carried into engagement with theperiphery of the pattern It, some point upon the curved upper surface of the gage-ring 35 will contact with the lower corner of the pattern. Thereby is produced a vertical component of force compressing the spring 33, so the gage-ring will be be true regardless of irregularities in the pattern, as those which may be producedby warping.

' At' the beginning of a rounding operation,

when the arm l2 swings the knife-block into operating position, the gage-ring, by its engagement with the pattern, will tilt the lever 28 so the gaging surface of the ring passes fully under the pattern. At this time, the surface 2d of the block contacts with the periphery of said pattern as the knife K, properly located by the ring, makes its rounding cut. The beaded, or other than rectilinear, formation is thus produced upon the sole-edge in accordance with the design of knife-edge is simultaneously with the rounding of the sole to the chosen peripheral shape, and the smoothing effect of the continuous pressure exerted by the drag-knife gives a finish to the cut surface which is in no other way so readily attainable.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a blank may be clamped, a knife-holder co-operating with the pattern, and a drag-knife fixed in the holder and provided with a cutting edge having a generally vertical portion between the-upper and lower extremities of which is a depression, said knife being formed to sever the blank as the pattern and holder are moved relativelyand to produce a bead projecting from thegeneraliy vertical periphery of the severed edge. 7

2. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a blank may be clamped, a knife-holder co-operating with the pattern, and a drag-knife fixed in the holder and provided with a cutting edge having a generally vertical portion between the upper and lower extremities of which is a depression, said knife being formed to sever the blank as the pattern and holder are moved relatively and to produce a bead projecting from the generally vertical periphery of the severed edge, the bead-producing depression extending from the cutting edge longitudinally of said knife.

3. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a blank may be clamped, a knife-holder co-operating with the pattern, a drag-knife fixed in the holder and having a cutting edge formedto sever the blank as the pattern and holder are moved relatively and to produce a sole with a bead upon the sole-edge, and means engaging the pattern for positioning the cutting edge of the knife with the bead-producing portion in a predetermined relation transversely of the soleedge.

4. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a. blank may be clamped, a support rotatable in co-operation with the pattern, an arm mounted upon the support to move toward and from the periphery of the pattern, a holder pivotally mounted upon the arm and urged thereby toward the pattern, a knife fixed in the holder and operating on the clamped blank, and a gagering rotatable about the holder-pivot and arranged for engagement with a face of the pattern.

5. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a'blank may be clamped, a support rotatable in co-operation with the pattern, an arm mounted upon the support to move toward and from the periphery of the pattern, a lever fulcrumed upon the arm and extending opposite a face of the pattern, a holder pivoted upon the lever and urged by the arm toward the pattern, a knife fixed in the holder and having a cutting edge formed to sever the blank about the pattern and to produce a sole with a bead upon the sole-edge, and a gage carried by the holder and urged by the lever against a face of the pattern.

6. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a blank may be clamped, a support rotatable in co-operation with the pattern, an arm mounted upon the support to move toward and from the periphery of the pattern, a lever ful crumed upon the arm and extending opposite a face of the pattern, means arranged to vary the normal position of the lever toward and from the pattern, a holder pivoted upon the lever and urged by the arm toward the pattern, a knife fixed in the holder and having a cutting edge formed to sever the blank about the pattern and to produce a sole with a bead upon the sole-edge, and a gage carried by the holder and urged by the lever against a face of the pattern.

7. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a blank may be clamped, a support rotatable in co-operation with the pattern, an arm mounted upon the support to move toward and from the periphery of the pattern, a lever fulcrumed upon the arm and extending opposite a face of the pattern, a holder pivoted upon the lever and urged by the arm toward the pattern, a knife fixed in the holder and having a cutting edge formed to sever the blank about the pattern and to produce a sole with a bead upon the sole-edge, and a gage-disk rotatable upon-the holder and having a surface-arranged for engagement with a face of the pattern and being curved outwardly toward its periphery from said face of the pattern.

8. In a machine for forming from blanks shoe soles having beaded edges, a pattern against which a blank may be clamped, a support rotatable in co-operation with the pattern, an arm mounted upon the support to move toward and from the periphery of the pattern, a lever fulcrumed upon the arm and extending opposite the outer face of the pattern, a holder pivoted upon the lever and urged by the arm toward the pattern, a knife fixed in the holder and having a cutting edge formed to sever the blank about the pattern and to produce a sole with a bead upon the sole-edge, a gage-disk rotatable upon the holder and having a surface arranged for engagement with the outer face of the pattern and being curved outwardly toward its periphery from said face of the pattern, a spring acting upon the lever to force the disk toward the pattern-face, and means arranged to vary the extent of movement of the lever under the influence of the spring.

ANDREW EPPLER, Ja. 

